Pagan Rites
by PokerKitten
Summary: S5 - Angel feels he has things to prove to Spike before they can move on.


**Title: Pagan Rites**  
Author: PokerKitten  
Rating: PG13  
Setting: Response to the LJ TV100 drabble challenge "Beneath The Mistletoe".  
AtS, S5  
Disclaimer: Joss, ME, Fox yadayada own the characters. I'm just messin'.

**Pagan Rites**

The festive season was turning out to be anything but….

Not that they had _ever_ celebrated Christmas, of course. It wasn't on the vampire 'to do' list. Setting the package down more heavily than necessary, the bottles inside chinked. _That_ should grab his attention!

"You're back then."

"Still miserable, then?"

Silence. Damn! It pained him to admit it but he _longed_ for the old banter. Striding purposefully towards the gloomy figure he shrugged off his jacket, revealing the sprig of festive foliage tucked into his belt. "Pucker up, Spike."

"Sod off Angel!"

A-ha, progress! Definitely a hint of a smirk!

**Pagan Rites #2**

"_I'm_ the broody one in this relationship, and don't you forget it!" Angel grinned, destroying his own case.

"_Relationship_? You been drinking?" Spike looked up at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"Maybe. A little. Just an egg nog. Or four. Hey, don't change the subject!" He thrust out his pelvis sufficiently to cause the mistletoe to jiggle provocatively.

"You're _so_ going to regret this in the morning!" Spike snorted, amused despite himself. Why didn't the big lug just leave him alone to…. brood. Hmm, maybe Angel had a point.

"I really don't think so." Angel's voice was suddenly soft, serious.

**Pagan Rites #3**

Spike watched, still wary, as Angel plucked the mistletoe from his belt and hunkered down in front of him.

"Here. Take it. Hang it wherever you want. Or throw it away…." Angel paused. "Only, _don't_ throw it away! Please."

Reluctantly, Spike took the proffered sprig of leaves and berries, seemed to scrutinize it carefully as he fingered it. "The Celts believed it held the soul of the host tree. You know?" Spike suddenly looked keenly into Angel's eyes.

Angel sighed. "Yeah. I know." He clasped Spike's knees, pretending to steady himself; held his gaze. "It's also a symbol of protection."

**Pagan Rites #4**

Well, a frown was better than a scowl, but it wasn't the reaction he'd been hoping for. Spike rising quickly from his seat, almost sending Angel to the floor in the process, wasn't part of the plan, either.

"Kiss my lily-white..." Spike growled, heading for his somewhat spartan bedroom.

Guess he was just going to have to try harder to convince him. "I'm sorry" he called to Spike's retreating back.

"Really." Spike responded flatly, flopping belly-down on his narrow bed. "For _what_, exactly?"

"For looking like I didn't give give a damn. Like I didn't understand. Like I didn't want…"

**Pagan Rites #5**

"Didn't want me around?"

Angel winced. "Well. Yeah."

Remembering the bag of groceries, he removed one of the bottles of Jack, opened it, took a slug. Plenty of time to explain to Spike about the complex and intense mix of emotions his bizzare return had wrought in him – fear, uncertainty, insecurity, _longing_. Even hope. But surely he could _show_ him that he _did_ understand, that he _did_ care, right here and now. If only he'd let him.

Spike clutched the mistletoe as Angel approached. "Apology accepted." His voice was muffled by the pillows. "But you can still kiss my arse!"

**Pagan Rites #6**

"Love to" he responded, prising the mistletoe from Spike's fingers and placing it in the small of his back.

He hesitated, anticipating curses or something more violent, but when none were forthcoming he went ahead and knelt on the bed. Man, he was nervous! It had been quite a while… Setting down the bottle, he cautiously moved his hands to Spike's hips. As narrow as he remembered. Swallowing hard, Angel slipped one hand beneath Spike's body. Already unbuttoned, huh?

Both men smiled as Angel tugged down the denim and straddled Spike's thighs.

"Lily white indeed" Angel whispered, bending to kiss.

**Pagan Rites #7**

He felt a little giddy. Must be the egg nog colliding with the Jack. Or the feel of the longed for flesh against his lips. Smooth, soft. Yet firm, tight. It had always puzzled him, delighted him. Made him _hungry_.

"I brought you a present. But… " Angel was about to confess to breaking open the whisky when he suddenly craved more. Hand shaking slightly he poured just a little into the dimple at Spike's tailbone, watched fascinated as it trickled gently into the crack of his cheeks.

"Don't waste it!"

"Not a drop" Angel vowed, bowing his head again.

**Pagan Rites #8**

He was already hard – well, of _course_ he was! But when he spread Spike's cheeks, when his tongue sought out the liquor and flicked against his anus, the years fell away. He remembered exactly how arousal and need _could_ feel. And he knew Spike was remembering it too, as he bucked beneath his palms; when he moaned as Angel's tongue probed further.

Angelus had taught William to push into him with his exquisitely long tongue, and suck. Suck hard. He'd been _so_ good at that…. About time Angel returned the favour. Feeling Spike quiver beneath him, he was almost happy.

**Pagan Rites #9**

The pressure was too much; he _had_ to unzip himself. Withdrawing slowly, his fingers fumbled with his fly but he was free soon enough. His cock was glistening, straining, but he fought the urge to use it. Spike's responses to his tongue were reward enough, for now. Whatever he wanted, he'd give. Spike had more than earned it.

"Bite me!" the command came suddenly.

"Should I take that literally?"

"You better believe it, you bastard!"

Whatever he wanted…. He scrambled out of his shirt and stooped back down to that inviting butt, grazing the flesh with his teeth. Spike tensed.

**Pagan Rites #10**

But instead of sinking dangerous fangs into pale skin, Angel lowered himself onto Spike's body, crushing the mistletoe between them as he nuzzled and stroked his way up to his neck.

"You wimping out on me?" Spike interrupted gruffly, even as his body responded to the gentle touches.

"I think I am. Until you trust me." Angel's fingers at last reached for Spike's cock. And oh, how he remembered that too!

"I trust you about as far as I could throw you…. Which I think I proved just recently was pretty bloody far, as it happens. So…. that's alright, then."

END


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